How rural school closures are ‘ripping the heart out of the community’ – Canada

Sara van Ravenswaay stands outside her small rural Niagara region high school, which will close its doors forever at the end of the month.

The Grade 11 student, her classmates and their parents have fought desperately for South Lincoln High School’s survival — attending school board meetings and rallies at Queen’s Park and sending off a flurry of emails — all to no avail.

“We didn’t actually think they were going to end up closing the school,” said van Ravenswaay. “We thought it was going to blow over and it wasn’t actually going to happen.”

Van Ravenswaay credits the intimate environment of her small school of about 230 students for much of her academic success. That’s why she burst into tears at a local school board meeting earlier this year when the final fate of her school was announced.